South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – How do I register?

The deadline for registering to vote in the 2024 South Africa national elections – if you are based outside of Mzansi – is fast approaching.

With hours rather days remaining to sign up, there is still uncertainty as to how the process works.

In an effort to make the exercise as simple as possible, the SAPeople website has exclusively engaged the help and expert assistance of Hayley Reichert to answer some of the more frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Reichert, who left Durban in 2008, now resides in London.

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In the first of a series of articles, the SAPeople website asked Reichert: “When is the online deadline for registering to vote in the 2024 South African national elections if I am based outside of South Africa?”

Reichert responded: The IEC issued a statement on Wednesday, 21 February 2024 stating that online registration will remain open until Friday, 23 February 2024.

Although there is no certainty of when the election will be promulgated (signed into law), there is still a small chance it could remain open for a few more days beyond Friday, but best not leave it to the last minute!

Please ensure you and everyone you know are registered by visiting https://www.elections.org.za/pw/ and if you’re abroad you need to click on the ‘register to vote abroad’ button.

There have been many complaints and frustrations with the new overseas voter registration portal.

However, the IEC has been making updates and amendments including an option to send your ID for manual verification if the system cannot automatically verify it.

They made new amendments on Wednesday, 21 February and the portal does seem to be working more smoothly.

Please check the user guide in the help section for information on uploading your ID document and check out these troubleshooting tips in the video below:

Hayley Reichert is a passionate South African, based in London. She has held roles with the SA Chamber of Commerce (UK), Nedbank SA Charity Golf Day, Democratic Alliance Abroad – where she initiated the loss of citizenship campaign – Home Away From Home repatriation & Project LISA (Locked in SA) expatriation projects during SA airspace closure in 2020 and Move One Million. Hayley also assisted South Africans who fled Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion and is currently working on a project to support a change in the political trajectory of South Africa in the 2024 General Elections.